We Have a Pope
Sundance Selects | Release Date: April 6, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 5, 2012
Mr. Moretti finds broad comedy in the antics of some clerics, who can seem as sweet as children, but in Melville there is pathos and there is tragedy, and not his alone. Read full review
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 3, 2012
By turns sweet, sad, funny and poignant, We Have a Pope is the story of a man who doesn't want to be God's representative on Earth. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMay 3, 2012
It's more of a character study, insightful and nuanced, about a man grappling with a profound sense of inadequacy, questioning himself. In many ways, We Have a Pope recalls last year's Oscar winner, "The King's Speech": Someone who doesn't feel up to the job fate has handed him, and then struggling to come to terms with it. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertApr 25, 2012
There are elements of comedy here, and some very low-key slapstick, but the film is respectful to the Catholic Church and the papacy and takes no cheap shots. Read full review
85
NPRMark JenkinsApr 6, 2012
We Have a Pope is not the filmmaker's next assault on a Roman patriarch. It's a half-sweet, half-rueful existential drama in which the satire comes secondary. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 5, 2012
Meticulous staging and Piccoli's world-weary presence balance any silliness, making the issues here feel relevant and real. The method is not pointed political satire but gentle enlightenment. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 11, 2012
This is rich material that Moretti mines for both superficial absurdity and deep pathos. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 6, 2012
The wonderful Polish actor Jerzy Stuhr plays the harried papal spokesman. It's a marvelous movie until the halfway point, when it unaccountably devolves into silliness. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderBen SachsApr 26, 2012
Beneath the surface lies a carefully considered argument about the irrelevance of organized religion in modern society. Though skeptical, the film isn't at all mean-spirited: Moretti takes such pleasure in living that the impulse to consecrate it seems absurd. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneApr 2, 2012
What really grips the new movie, for all its amused glances at Swiss Guards and ceremonial pomp, is the prospect of a single soul in crisis. [9 April 2012, p.85]
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungApr 1, 2012
Nanni Moretti's tender, funny and timely Vatican romp entertains, but lacks the director's customary bite. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn LevyMay 3, 2012
The film wastes itself on silliness and scattered threads before very long, truly squandering a brilliant promise. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Marsha LedermanMay 31, 2012
If only Moretti had had the faith in his story and its gentle, organic comedy, and done away with the forced silliness. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 12, 2012
Whenever it stays with Piccoli, though, it's mysterious and moving, struck by the humility of a man who's not up to playing God. Read full review
63
New York PostV.A. MusettoApr 6, 2012
Overall We Have a Pope should prove a crowd-pleaser. Sacred music by the great Estonian composer is a plus. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerApr 1, 2012
Nanni Moretti's latest is a mixed bag that too often settles for easy, superficial laughs. Read full review
60
MovielineStephanie ZacharekApr 9, 2012
As lukewarm as We Have a Pope may be as a piece of filmmaking, Moretti doesn't tread particularly gently into sacred territory. The picture could be more irreverent, but at least it dares to suggest that popes are people too. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineRichard MoweApr 3, 2012
Piccoli in a role that relies on looks, gestures and very few words, does not hit an off note, making him into a silent, everyman figure. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonApr 13, 2012
Piccoli gives the film a depth it perhaps doesn't deserve. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenApr 5, 2012
Too gingerly to be persuasive. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayApr 4, 2012
It's a shame that a movie about the pope as a man shows such scant fascination with the actual papacy - or with humanity, for that matter. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonApr 3, 2012
Until the potent concluding scene, the humor and shallow profundities of We Have a Pope pivot on the cuteness of geriatrics, especially when they're spiking a volleyball in slo-mo. Read full review
50
VarietyJay WeissbergApr 1, 2012
The results veer between occasional smiles and outright pretension, with only Piccoli's mastery transcending the material. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 3, 2012
Nanni Moretti's new film is occasionally amusing, but is also a frustrating and directionless experience. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichApr 3, 2012
The satire becomes more scattershot and strangely cuddlesome (didja know sequestered holy men enjoy socializing and playing sports, just like us?), while the usually great Piccoli-saddled with a ridiculously contrived failed-actor backstory-comes off like an unholy mix of Gérard Depardieu and Robin Williams at their sad-puppiest. That's some cinematic blasphemy, Moretti. Read full review
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